Commuting in Manila: What Life Is Like Without Uber

It's been a pretty wild couple of months for the Philippine ride-sharing community. What began as a relatively minor rift between the country's Transport Network Companies and the Land Transportation Regulatory and Franchising Boardhas culminated in the outright suspension of Uber for one month, putting both the company and its drivers in a very precarious situation.

The biggest losers though? It's not Uber, its drivers, or even the Land Transportation Regulatory and Franchising Board (LTFRB) (although whoever is managing its Facebook account could make a compelling argument); it's us, the commuters who have had to revert back to dilapidated jeepneys, reckless buses, choosy taxi drivers, and other outdated modes of public transportation.

In the days after ride-sharing, suddenly the cracks in the system aren't just cracks: They're gaping chasms which expose Philippine mass transport for what it truly is—an inefficient, disorganized, unsafe, and ill-maintained mess of an excuse for getting around the city.

You needn't look any further than social media to see just how frustrated the riding public is after a few days of this debacle:

TS: It's been two years since I last took a jeep home during rush hour. And with the whole Uber issue, it looks like I'll be doing it more often (or at least every time the boyfriend is out of town huhu). While in the jeep, I couldn't help [but] think of Europe's trains, buses, and trams, and how easy commuting was. While walking home, I started missing the spacious and safe streets of that amazing place. Maybe if things were like that here, if we could keep our streets safe and (for the love of God) fix our transport system, maybe we wouldn't be so dependent on temporary solutions.

BJ: Well, people who are supposed to be carless today decided to use their respective vehicles, so that means daddy's car, mommy's car, kuya's car and ate's car were on the main road, thus causing too much traffic instead of the just four of them using an Uberpool service.

TG: Arrived in Cubao at 9:45 p.m. tonight from our training in Laguna. I've been on the road since 5 p.m. today. All I want now is rest. Tried booking Grab but cannot connect to their network. Maybe because of the bulk of users that used the app today. I hailed 10 taxis today and not a single driver accepted me. Puro "Malayo! Pagarahe naako!" or "Ay hindi, malayo!" Or some of them will just make iling without even looking at me. So, LTFRB, kumustana kayo? Nakauwi na kayo ng 5 p.m. pa lang? I'm sure manunuodna kayo ng teleseryengayonsa TV. 'Yong ibasainyo, naghihilikna. Saya ba? Saya ba nabiglakayongmagsu-suspend ng mgatransponamin? Amaze-balls kayo mag-isip.

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It goes on and on. Frankly, there isn't enough space on this page to include more than the above. Do you share the same sentiments about returning to other modes of public transportation?

This story originally appeared on Topgear.com.ph. Minor edits have been made by the SPOT.ph editors.